'Everybody's Fine' vs. 'Everybody's Fine' (1991)

'Everybody's Fine' vs. 'Everybody's Fine' (1991)

Miramax

Here's a literal remake of a movie that few people remember, though the original was co-written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, who won an Oscar for foreign language film of 1989 with his "Cinema Paradiso." The best thing about the remake, written and directed by Kirk Jones, is the performance of Robert De Niro, who actually warrants comparison to the great Marcello Mastroianni, who played the befuddled father of four grown children in Tornatore's movie. But the haunting, bittersweet ending of the original has given way to a syrupy, feel-good finale that undermines the biting comments on familial deceptions and delusions that once made the story so poignant.

Here's a literal remake of a movie that few people remember, though the original was co-written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, who won an Oscar for foreign language film of 1989 with his "Cinema Paradiso." The best thing about the remake, written and directed by Kirk Jones, is the performance of Robert De Niro, who actually warrants comparison to the great Marcello Mastroianni, who played the befuddled father of four grown children in Tornatore's movie. But the haunting, bittersweet ending of the original has given way to a syrupy, feel-good finale that undermines the biting comments on familial deceptions and delusions that once made the story so poignant. (Miramax)

Here's a literal remake of a movie that few people remember, though the original was co-written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, who won an Oscar for foreign language film of 1989 with his "Cinema Paradiso." The best thing about the remake, written and directed by Kirk Jones, is the performance of Robert De Niro, who actually warrants comparison to the great Marcello Mastroianni, who played the befuddled father of four grown children in Tornatore's movie. But the haunting, bittersweet ending of the original has given way to a syrupy, feel-good finale that undermines the biting comments on familial deceptions and delusions that once made the story so poignant.